Two Vancouver men arrested in Portland auto theft ring

Two Vancouver men were among five people recently arrested in connection to a large-scale auto theft ring in Portland, according to a news release from the Portland Police Bureau.

Tyler Hagist, 34, was arrested in Vancouver and has been indicted for unlawful use of a motor vehicle, first-degree theft, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and illegal salvage. He was booked into the Multnomah County Jail on Tuesday, according to an online roster of inmates.

David M. Houston, 53, was arrested in Vancouver after a 13-count indictment that includes two counts of racketeering. He remains in the Clark County Jail, and the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office will seek extradition to Oregon.

Hagist and Houston joined Katrina Irene Morrison (also known as Schneider), Vanasha lee Vidalez and Joseph Clarence Schneider as the latest people to be arrested in the months-long investigation, which has centered on West Coast Car Crushing and A1 Light Truck and Van Parts, both in north Portland.

Nearly three dozen people have been named, including a city of Portland employee, in a scheme that police say involved towing parked cars, crushing them and selling the scrap metal.

Barbara Lorraine Peterson, 53, pleaded guilty on May 16, 2014 to Official Misconduct in the First Degree and three counts of Unlawful Use of a Motor Vehicle. She will be sentenced on October 14 and faces 18 months in prison, according to the news release. The Oregonian reported that Peterson worked as a parking code enforcement officer and tipped off tow truck drivers to parked cars, who would steal the vehicles and take them to West Coast Car Crushing.

Police executed search warrants in April at West Coast Car Crushing and A1 Light Truck and Van Parts, as well as at a residence on Tomahawk Island and at two Vancouver residences, 516 W. Fourth Plain Boulevard in the Carter Park neighborhood and 514 N.W. 40th Street in the Lincoln neighborhood.